The smell of baked goods filled the air on Tuesday, Aug. 30, in front of the Communications Lab as Kappa Beta Delta hosted a bake sale to raise money for The Hamil Family Project.

KBD created the project earlier this year in honor of the Hamil family, who lost everything in the May 24 tornado outbreak. That loss included their two young sons: three-year-old Ryan and 15-month-old Cole.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Club President Michael Southerland said the bake sale — which included treats such as cookies, cakes, and homemade “puppy chow” — had raised close to $100.

For many cities, the start of September means some kind of Labor Day event. For Oklahoma City it means it’s time for Arts Festival Oklahoma.

The festival is an annual celebration held at OCCC that features visual and performing artists from around the state and country.

This year marks the 33rd anniversary for the three-day event, which will kick off at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3, and end 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 5. While parking is $5, admission will be free.

The children’s tent is a favored spot for many each year. Lori Colbart, music major, said it is one of the things she most looks forward to.

Batter up!

Tickets are now on sale for the OCCC’s first Night at the Redhawks of the semester.

Tickets for the Sept. 3 Oklahoma City Redhawks-New Orleans Zephyrs game cost $3.

Students can purchase up to five tickets in Student Life, located on the first floor of the Main Building.

OCCC’s theater department is holding open auditions for the casting of August Wilson’s “Fences.”

Auditions will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25 in the Bruce Owen Theater.

The focus of the play is Troy, a fifty-something head of household who struggles with providing for his family and with an obsession about cheating death.

Casting characters include:

About 30 students in sixth through eighth grade are putting together the Broadway Junior production of “Godspell” during the last two weeks of July. The performances are scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, July 28, and 3 p.m. Friday, July 29, in the college theater.

This will be the final production of the musical theater component of College for Kids this summer, said Brannon Dresel, community education coordinator.

The junior version of “Godspell” is a simplified history of the life of Jesus, performed in contemporary costumes. The original Academy Award-winning musical was created by Stephen Schwartz.

The musical theater program takes place on the main campus, Dresel said. The students will work on the production all day, every day, of those two weeks.

A lot is going on in downtown Oklahoma City when it comes to the performing arts.

Students enrolled in OKC Arts Alive! will learn that firsthand when they attend concerts, plays and other performances as part of their class assignments.

Every semester includes attending at least one ballet and one performance by the Philharmonic orchestra, said Ruth Charnay, the professor for OKC Arts Alive, a three-credit-hour humanities class taught every Friday night beginning the second half of the fall semester.

A video display playing the sounds of the rushing ocean waves on the beach with children playing and laughing in the background sets the mood for “Flow,” an exhibit in the campus art gallery, room 124 in the Visual Performing Arts Center.

This exhibit showcases almost 30 works of art from all different spectrums of style focused on water and its different uses. The show has three main points: water as power, water as life source, and water as environmental concern.

Those who come to experience this exhibit will find it both serene and inviting.

International students and American students learn from one another in English conversation groups scheduled weekly on campus, said Lydia Rucker, Communications Lab assistant.

ESL conversation groups bring international students together with native speakers of English to help them build a better foundation in English, Rucker said.

This summer the ESL conversation groups met from 2 to 3 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday in the World Languages and Cultures Center, located on the second floor in the Main Building. The program was reconstructed and coordinated by Rucker.

David Burgess, Imani Winds, Octarium.

Do you know these performers? Maybe you should.

They will all be on campus as part of this year’s Cultural Programs. The series will include eight concerts and four special events coming from different genres and styles, said Lemuel Bardeguez, Cultural Programs director.

Music groups, storytelling, and dramatic plays were just some of the children’s programs offered weekly this summer at OCCC’s Family and Community Education Center.

Some of these acts included the Sugar Free All Stars, the Oklahoma Children’s Theater, Al Bostick, Cimarron Circuit Opera Company, Rhythmically Speaking, and Buffalofitz, said Jessica Martinez-Brooks, director of Community Outreach and Education.

OCCC partnered with the Southern Oaks Library this summer in order to host the library’s Neighborhood Arts Program. The library needed this partnership because their library is currently being renovated.